Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Where Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump stands on education - CBS News

By the end of 2016, student loan debt will have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. In fact, estimates report that approximately 43 million students in the United States will owe nearly $1.3 trillion. That means the average class of 2016 graduate has nearly $38,000 in debt--a six percent increase from last year.

“The public school system has been, I believe, second to the Constitution, the most important institution in making America the great country that we have been over the last 200 plus years,” Clinton said in 2015.

Her original plan cost $350 billion over a decade, but she expanded the college affordability portion of the plan significantly in July. There has not been an updated cost estimate. The plan would be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy.

Here are the key components to Clinton’s educational policy:

Early education:

Make preschool and quality childcare “available to every child in America” in the next decade

End the school-to-prison-pipeline by reforming harsh discipline standards in schools. “A classroom should be a safe place for our children, we shouldn’t even have to say that,” she said in a February speech. “This isn’t just an education issue, this is a civil rights issue and we can’t ignore it any longer.”

College affordability:

Enact policy that would allow families who make less than $125,000 attend public colleges for free--a leftward shift in Clinton’s education platform thanks to pressure from Sen. Bernie Sanders and his devout supporters who called for “free-tuition-for-all.” The plan has a five-year phase-in, but families making $85,000 or less would immediately be exempt from tuition at in-state public schools.

Pell Grants for low-income students would be expanded

Her “New Compact Plan” would incentivize states to keep tuition rates down and provide grant money to those who demonstrate a commitment to college affordability

Broadly speaking, Donald Trump favors school vouchers and has denounced the involvement of the federal government in the nation’s schools.

The GOP nominee and founder of the now-defunct Trump University-- tackled education reform in a recent September speech.

“As your president, I will be the biggest cheerleader for school choice you’ve ever seen,” he said, promising that in his White House “parents can home school their children.” Trump’s website does not appear to specifically address education, though in September, he unveiled a proposal on education vouchers. Here are the components of Trump’s educational platform so far:

School choice:

Like most Republicans, Trump supports education vouchers that allow students to attend private rather than public schools--arguing that they create healthy competition in the education market. “I will establish the national goal of providing school choice to every American child living in poverty,” Trump said in September. He recently unveiled plans to create a $20 billion block grant that would expand charter and private school options for low-income children. Trump would divert federal funding from schools to pay for the block grants.

He also has expressed an interest in eliminating the Department of Education because it has “been taken over by the bureaucrats in Washington.”

Trump has called Common Core a “disaster.” “Education has to be local,” he declared during his June 2015 presidential announcement.

College affordability:

“There’s no such thing as free education,” Trump said during a town hall with Chris Matthews. “You know, ultimately, somebody is going to be paying for that education, and it’s the taxpayers.” He acknowledged that students are “up to their neck in debt” and has suggested he would remove the federal government from the student loan system and privatize it, though doing this isn’t likely to reduce the cost of a degree, says John Wasik, author of “The Debt-Free Degree.”

Trump’s education policy surrogate, Sam Clovis, has suggested the colleges should screen their students more closely to accept those who are likely to graduate on time, which he seemed to suggest would effectively reduce the student debt burden.

John Wasik contributed to this article Where Donald Trump stands on education